System failures

It isn’t always easy….. Even with a good to do list, and organized tasks… system failures distract…

Not being able to turn on a light switch for magic power. Not being able turn on a faucet for water and have it come out reliably.

The lodge pump failed. Unclear why it doesn’t pump water… it starts ok then goes to a trickle. I will take it apart and clean it out. The system appears to be pretty rotted. The pichancha is bad and the tubing is weak. I will replace and rebuild it all. Luckily, I had another pump I use for such cases and so we can get by.

A few days ago the solar power system fuse blew for no apparent reason. I replaced it and was proud I had the part on hand since last time it took a while to order the fuse from the states while I hooked up a hack fix. I just noticed that the fuse I have to order from the states says it is assembled in Mexico. You would think I could buy it here. Today the fuse blew again… And now we are using the last one I have. There is no apparent short in the system… so why are the fuses blowing? Maybe it was just one bad fuse since the new one seems ok. It is a Cooper Bussman T-TRON Class T JJN-110 fuse. Without power…. no internet and therefore no communications. We write dozens of emails a day just to arrange visitors and volunteers. Some months ago we had troubles with too many people using our tiny electrical system and risking the destruction of the batteries… we have usage rules in place to protect it now though of course some people don’t like rules.

And we also have the problem of the 67,000 liter cistern which after being built wrong, then fixed and working for two years, now mysteriously is failing to hold water. We have to fix that as soon as possible. And general water usage is increasing, having so many people, so it looks like rain catchment will not be sufficient until we can make heavy investments into more water storage. There seems to be no easy path to water capture and storage… but we will take any path we must.

The van is still hanging in there…. 1997 Dodge RAM 3500 extended length van named “Van Gogh”. It has served very well going up our terrible road. But whenever it does have problems… We get worried that it is such a critical part of our survival that it’s failure with cause great troubles. The transmission was replaced this year.

In any case, we are doing great overall! Learning a lot. Adjusting.
We just had a December surge of volunteers; all great folks! And some campers too!
We are almost finished fighting the pine beetle plague on this side of the barranca and the other teams are working on that. The chicken house is almost ready. We are arranging more local classes to build the local economy and help guests have intense times.

Much to do for business, immigration, infrastructure, plants, animals, people, and developing the Bosque culture. Need to recruit more residents for greater stability and strength.

Our goals for 2010 are ambitious and our survival uncertain! But intense progress is possible and we will keep riding the tiger.
Good luck to us all!